Training Camp

Training Camp
The past three and a half weeks I have reached my goal of making strides in my fitness gains, especially in the bike and run disciplines. Despite a few unseasonable rainy days in Tucson, I enjoyed many outdoor rides away from the snow and ice that keep me on the trainer in Colorado! The location in Oro Valley where Nate and I were staying was beautiful. We had a fantastic view of the mountains just behind our condo and could see the peak of Mount Lemmon not too far off in the distance.
Not only did I get in quality training sessions, but also go to meet some great people. I want to thank Sean Bechtal, Nat "Dream Crusher" Faulkner and Dave "Dragon" Sharratt for pushing me in my training session, helping me to improve my bike handling skills and creating a great training atmosphere. While I was not training, I spent as much time as I could watching the winter Olympics in Vancouver. I was very impressed with the performances of the American team and I have to say the athletes inspired me to focus on London. It was exciting watching some athletes I have personally gotten to know over the years while training in Colorado! The games could not have ended with much more excitement in the overtime game against Canada. Althought the team came up just short, both the US and Canada played extremely well, with immense heart and gave it their all….the true definition of sport.
My trip away from home is not quite over yet, as I am headed to Florida this weekend for the Disney Princess Half Marathon Event on Saturday, March 6th. I will be speaking about nutrition at the expo and afterwards signing cards for a few hours. On the 7th, I am competing in my first competition of the year at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont, Florida. The race is a draft-legal development race and is a sprint distance (750m swim, 20k bike and 5k run). It has been a long time since I have competed at this distance (I think I have only raced this distance once before back in 2003!). I will be staying in Clermont the following week in preparation for the Miami International Triathlon on the 14th. Although I am ending a tough block of training, I am excited to be starting my race season for 2010 and get some of the race cobwebs out of my system before the bigger races to come in April.
Best of luck to all of you who are starting to ramp up your training intensity and getting prepared for the 2010 season….spring has sprung!